EXCHANGE 


Retardation  in  the  Elementary 
Schools  of  Philadelphia 


BY 
BYRON  A,  PHILLIPS 


A  THESIS  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE 

SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR    THE    DEGREE    OF    DOCTOR 

OF    PHILOSOPHY 


Reprinted  from  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC,  VOL.  VI,  Nos.  3  and  4, 
MAY  AND  JUNE,  1912. 


RETARDATION  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS  OF 

PHILADELPHIA. 

BY  BYRON  A.  PHILLIPS,  PH.D., 

Philadelphia. 

I. 

In  the  following  study  all  pupils  will  be  classed  as  retarded, 
who  are  one  year  or  more  behind  the  "normal"  grade  for  their  age. 
The  universality  of  retardation  is  what  first  strikes  the  student  of 
the  problem.  Whenever  there  is  a  school  system,  this  phenomenon 
is  present.  Upon  further  consideration,  however,  we  must  recog- 
nize that  retardation  is  dependent  to  a  great  extent  upon  the 
natural  inequalities  of  the  human  mind,  which  may  be  of  any 
grade  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  intelligence.  At  one  end  of 
the  series  we  have  the  profound  idiot,  at  the  other  the  genius. 
Somewhere  between  these  extremes  we  find  the  average  or  "normal" 
mind.  The  curricula  of  the  public  school  systems  are  supposed  to 
be  adapted  to  this  average,  normal,  or  standard.  Of  course  this 
average  mind  will  not  be  one  determined  by  a  strict  criterion,  but 
will  range  within  certain  limits.  Minds  below  the  lower  limit  will 
not  fit  into  a  school  system  based  upon  this  average,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  retardation  will  always  exist.  Investigation,  however, 
reveals  the  fact  that  many  pupils  of  average  intelligence  are 
retarded  to  such  an  extent  that  the  school  systems  have  been  called 
in  question  as  inefficient. 

Besides  natural  inferiority  of  mind,  there  are  several  other 
factors  which  cause  retardation,  the  most  important  of  these  being 
irregular  attendance  and  lack  of  proper  medical  inspection.  These 
factors  are  present  in  all  school  systems  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
yet  there  are  great  differences  in  the  amount  of  retardation  among 
the  different  systems. 

In  studying  the  retardation  of  any  system,  the  relation  of  the 
retarded  to  the  normal  and  to  the  accelerated  should  be  taken  into 
account  if  we  are  to  obtain  an  adequate  idea  of  the  relative  worth 
of  the  system. 

The  present  study  is  an  investigation  of  retardation  in  the 
elementary  public  schools  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  word  as  to  the 
organization  of  the  system  will  make  clearer  the  significance  of 
the  results.  At  the  head  is  a  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, who  is  assisted  in  his  duties  by  four  Associate  Superin- 
tendents. The  city  is  divided  into  ten  districts,  each  under  a  Dis- 

313980 


rP,8Y  GEOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

trict  Superintendent.  Each  district  includes  within  its  jurisdic- 
tion several  contiguous  political  wards.  In  all  there  are  232  schools 
having  an  average  enrolment  of  81,768  boys  and  82,127  girls,  a 
total  of  163,895  pupils.  Age  tabulations  are  taken  on  the  number 
of  pupils  in  actual  attendance  on  one  day  of  the  year,  and  the 
regulation  retardation  blank  is  used  for  this  purpose.  A  child 
eight  years  or  over  in  the  first  grade  is  considered  retarded;  nine 
years  or  over  in  the  second  grade,  and  so  on  through  the  grades. 
In  the  present  study  the  age  tabulations  for  1909  are  used  as  a 
basis,  and  occasional  reference  is  made  to  those  of  1908  and  1910 
for  comparison. 

Retardation  for  the  Years  1908,  1909  and  1910. 

From  Dr.  Oliver  P.  Cornman's  study  of  the  "Retardation  of 
the  Pupils  of  Five  City  School  Systems,"1  we  see  that  the  different 
cities  vary  greatly  in  the  percentage  of  retardation.  In  a  more 
detailed  study  of  any  particular  system  it  is  desirable  to  ascertain 
whether  the  rate  of  retardation  is  uniform  throughout  the  system 
or  not.  The  ten  districts  readily  lend  themselves  to  such  a  study. 

In  1908  the  highest  amount  of  retardation  for  boys  was  50.6 
per  cent  in  District  3,  and  the  lowest  37.9  per  cent  in  District  10, 
a  difference  of  12.7  per  cent;  for  girls  46.5  per  cent  in  District  4, 
and  32.8  per  cent  in  District  10,  a  difference  of  13.7  per  cent; 
and  for  both  48.3  per  cent  in  District  3,  and  35.4  per  cent  in 
District  10,  a  difference  of  12.9  per  cent. 

In  1909  we  find  the  following  range  of  difference  in  the 
amount  of  retardation  in  the  districts:  boys,  from  48.1  per  cent 
in  District  3,  to  35.9  per  cent  in  District  10,  a  difference  of  12.2 
per  cent;  girls,  from  45.8  per  cent  in  District  3,  to  30.6  per  cent 
in  District  10,  a  difference  of  15.2  per  cent;  both,  from  47.0  per 
cent  in  District  3,  to  33.3  per  cent  in  District  10,  a  difference 
of  13.7  per  cent. 

In  1910  the  greatest  amount  of  retardation  for  boys  was  48.4 
per  cent  in  District  3,  and  the  least  34.6  per  cent  in  District  7 
a  difference  of  13.8  per  cent;  for  girls  45.7  per  cent  in  District  3, 
and  30.7  per  cent  in  District  10,  a  difference  of  15  per  cent;  and 
for  both  47.6  per  cent  in  District  3  and  33.0  per  cent  in  District  7, 
a  difference  of  14.6  per  cent. 

The  other  eight  districts  range  in  retardation  between  the 
extremes  just  cited.  It  is  apparent  that  different  causes  are  work- 
ing in  different  degrees  in  these  districts  to  cause  the  variations  in 
the  amount  of  retardation  among  them.  The  following  table 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC,  Vol.  I,  1907-08,  p.  245. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


summarizes  the  retardation  of  the  ten  districts  for  the  years  1908, 
1909,  and  1910: 

TABLE  I.       RETARDATION  BY  DISTRICTS 


1908 

1909 

1910 

District 

Bc^s 

Girls 

Both 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

1  
2  

46.  4f 
47.1 

43.0 
45.3 

44.7 
46.2 

41.9 
45.9 

41.7 
43.2 

41.8 
44.5 

41.0 

44.7 

39.0 
42.7 

40.1 
43.7 

3      

50.4 

46.0 

48.3 

48.1 

45.8 

47.0 

48.4 

45.7 

47.6 

4               .    . 

48  8 

46  5 

47.6 

46  0 

44.4 

45.1 

42.9 

40.4 

41.6 

5 

46  1 

43  3 

44  7 

42.6 

41  7 

42  1 

6  

42.0 

39.5 

40.8 

37.2 

37.3 

37.2 

35.6 

35.6 

35.6 

7  

40.3 

35.5 

38.0 

36.8 

34.2 

35.5 

34.6 

31.5 

33.0 

8 

42  7 

37  0 

39  8 

40  1 

36  9 

38.5 

37.9 

34.5 

36  2 

9 

38  3 

35  3 

37  0 

37  5 

34  5 

36  0 

36  1 

32  7 

34  4 

10  

37.9 

32.8 

35.4 

35.9 

30.6 

33.3 

36.1 

30.7 

33.3 

Totals  .... 

44.3 

40.4 

42.4 

41.5 

39.2 

40.3 

40.1 

37.6 

38.8 

Studying  this  table  we  note  its  remarkable  regularity.  Each 
year  in  each  district  the  retardation  of  the  boys  is  less  than  that 
of  the  previous  year;  each  year  in  each  district  the  retardation  of 
the  girls  is  less  than  that  of  the  previous  year;  each  year  in  each 
district  the  totals  are  less  than  the  totals  of  the  previous  year.  We 
can  almost  see  retardation  being  forced  down  by  some  external 
cause.  Since  the  problem  of  retardation  is  occupying  the  attention 
of  most  departments  of  superintendence,  we  may  infer  that  this 
decrease  is  due  to  supervision.  The  following  table  summarizes 
the  retardation  statistics  for  the  three  years  in  question : 


1908 
1909 
1910 


TABLE  II. 

Boys. 
.     44.3 
.      41.5 

40.1 


Girls. 
40.4 
39.2 
37.6 


Both. 

42.4 

40.3 

38.8 


N"ot  only  the  districts  but  the  grades,  with  a  few  trifling 
exceptions,  show  the  same  uniform  reduction  in  retardation. 


4  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

TABLE  III.   RETARDATION  BY  GRADES 


1908 

1909 

1910 

Grades 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

8  

36  1 

35  9 

36  0 

31  2 

31  3 

31  3 

30  2 

30  5 

30  4 

7  . 

39  3 

37  0 

38  1 

35  5 

35  9 

35  7 

36  5 

36  6 

36  6 

6 

52  5 

47  3 

49  0 

48  1 

47  1 

47  6 

47  7 

49  6 

48  7 

5 

56  6 

52  0 

54  3 

54  8 

54  1 

54  5 

54  8 

51  3 

53  0 

4  
3  

57.1 
54  0 

53.5 
47  3 

55.3 
50  6 

56.2 
50  5 

51.2 
45  5 

53.7 
48  0 

52.9 
48  4 

48.7 
42  7 

50.8 
45  5 

2  ... 

43  4 

37  3 

40  4 

39  1 

34  6 

36  9 

36  3 

31  4 

33  9 

1 

21  9 

20  2 

21  1 

20  1 

18  5 

19  2 

19  1 

17  1 

18  1 

Totals 

44  3 

40  4 

42  4 

41  5 

39  2 

40  3 

40  1 

37  6 

38  8 

No  one  familiar  with  the  problem  of  retardation  would  look 
for  equal  amounts  of  retardation  in  the  different  grades.  The 
grade  figures  for  the  whole  city,  arranged  in  order  of  the  amount 
of  retardation,  are  for  1909 : 

TABLE   IV. 

5th  grade    54.5  per  cent 


4th 

3d 

6th 

2d 

7th 

8th 

1st 


53.7 
48.0 
47.6 
36.9 
35.7 
31.3 
19.1 


Total    40.3  per  cent 

The  figures  for  1910,  although  somewhat  smaller,  follow  those  of 
1909  in  order  of  grades. 

Summary : 

(1)  The  ten  districts  vary  considerably  among  themselves  in 
amount  of  retardation. 

(2)  There  has  been  a  uniform  reduction  in  the  amount  of 
retardation  during  the  past  three  years  in  the  city  as  a  whole,  in 
each  district,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  in  each  grade. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  5 

(3)  Supervision  is  probably  an  important  factor  in  this 
reduction  of  retardation. 

Attendance. 

Some  investigators  have  considered  attendance  to  be  the  lead- 
ing factor  in  retardation.  A  comparison  of  retardation  figures 
with  the  statistics  of  attendance  given  in  the  Superintendent's 
annual  report,  fails  to  reveal  any  correlation.  For  1909  District  3 
has  the  greatest  amount  of  retardation,  47.0  per  cent,  and  an 
average  attendance  of  90.9  per  cent;  while  District  10  has  the 
lowest  retardation,  33.3  per  cent,  and  an  average  attendance  of 
89.9  per  cent.  The  ten  districts  show  the  following  percentages  of 
retardation  and  attendance  respectively : 

TABLE  V. 

District.  Retardation.  Attendance. 

3 47.0  90.9 

4 45.1  89.2 

5 44.7  88.3 

2 44.5  89.8 

1 41.8  89.9 

8 38.5  88.8 

6 37.2  88.6 

9    36.0  89.3 

7 35.5  90.1 

10 33.3  89.9 

In  order  to  obtain  a  measure  of  the  general  tendency  of  a 
relationship  between  two  variable  quantities  with  unknown  zero 
points  and  units  directly  incommensurable,  it  is  necessary  to  find 
the  coefficient  of  correlation.  The  Pearson  method  obtains  as  its 
measure  of  the  relationship  a  single  number  which  may  be  any- 
where between  1.00  and  — 1.00.  The  method  of  calculating  the 
Pearson  coefficient  of  correlation  is  to  multiply  the  deviation  of 
each  observation  from  the  average  in  one  trait,  by  its  deviation 
from  the  average  in  the  other ;  to  add  the  products  thus  found  and 
divide  the  sum  by  the  number  of  cases  times  the  standard  deviation 
of  the  first  trait  times  the  standard  deviation  of  the  second  trait. 
That  is,  the  coefficient  of  correlation 

= s  x  y 

n    <TI    <r2 

The  coefficient  of  correlation  obtained  by  this  method  for  the 
relationship  between  retardation  and  attendance  for  the  year  1909 
is  .05,  which  signifies  practically  a  lack  of  correlation.  A  study 


6  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

of  the  grade  figures  shows  a  similar  lack  of  correlation  between 
the  percentages  of  retardation  and  of  attendance.  From  this  it 
would  seem  that  attendance  is  a  minor  factor  in  causing  retarda- 
tion, but  this  is  evidently  untrue,  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first 
place  the  percentage  of  retardation  is  being  compared  with  the 
percentage  of  attendance  for  the  same  year.  The  attendance  in 
any  year  cannot  be  a  cause  of  retardation  for  the  same  year, 
although  percentages  of  attendance  vary  but  little  from  year  to 
year.  Secondly,  the  method  of  calculating  attendance  is  apt  to 
convey  a  false  impression  of  the  actual  conditions  in  the  various 
schools  and  districts.  The  attendance  here,  as  in  most  school 
reports,  is  given  in  the  form  of  a  per  cent  of  the  average  number 
belonging  or  the  average  number  present  for  month  and  year.  In 
such  a  calculation  a  difference  of  one  or  two  per  cent  may  mean  a 
difference  of  hundreds  of  half -day  attendances,  and  even  tenths  of 
a  per  cent  may  mean  no  small  factor.  No  doubt  the  true  way  to 
estimate  the  exact  influence  of  irregular  attendance  on  retardation 
would  be  to  keep  a  record  of  the  number  of  half-day  attendances 
for  each  pupil  and  compare  the  results  with  the  promotion  record 
of  the  same  pupil. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  District  3,  with  the  highest  percentage 
of  retardation,  is  a  compact  foreign  district;  while  District  10, 
with  the  lowest  percentage,  is  a  rural  American  district,  so  it 
would  seem  that  other  factors,  in  this  case  the  nature  of  the 
sociological  unit,  may  overbalance  the  factor  of  attendance. 

The  influence  of  attendance  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the 
attendance  of  the  colored  schools  with  that  of  the  district  in  which 
they  are  located.  The  J.  Miller  School  has  an  average  attendance 
of  83.7  per  cent,  District  1  an  average  attendance  of  88.3  per  cent; 
the  Pollock  School  has  an  attendance  of  83.5  per  cent,  District  3, 
90.4  per  cent;  the  Catto  School  has  an  attendance  of  80.7  per  cent, 
and  the  Ramsay  School,  76.3  per  cent,  District  4,  87.7  per  cent; 
the  Vaux  School  has  an  attendance  of  76.0  per  cent,  District  6, 
87.6  per  cent;  the  Hill  School  has  an  attendance  of  80.2  per  cent, 
the  Meehan  School,  80.0  per  cent,  District  9,  88.7  per  cent;  the 
Wilmot  School  has  an  attendance  of  84.7  per  cent,  District  10, 
89.0  per  cent.  When  retardation  in  the  colored  schools  is  dis- 
cussed it  will  be  seen  that  in  every  case  it  is  approximately  from 
10  to  20  per  cent  higher  than  that  for  the  district. 
Summary : 

(1)  The  method  of  reckoning  attendance  used  in  compiling 
school  reports  gives  results  which  are  of  small  value  for  statistical 
purposes. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  7 

(2)  While  the  tables  do  not  show  any  correlation  between 
retardation  and  attendance,  no  doubt  such  relationship  exists,  and 
is  an  important  but  not  the  predominating  factor  in  causing 
retardation,  being  overbalanced  in  various  districts  by  a  single 
potent  factor  or  several  factors  working  together. 

Retardation  in  Relation  to  the  Sociological  Unit. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  spreads  over  a  considerable  area. 
Originally  many  parts  of  the  present  city  were  towns  in  them- 
selves, which  have  been  incorporated  into  the  city  in  the  course  of 
its  growth.  Many  of  these  sections  still  retain  their  old  character- 
istics. The  center  of  the  city  contains  the  great  business  section. 
South  of  this  we  find  the  foreign  element,  consisting  mostly  of 
Italians  and  Russian  Jews.  In  the  northeast  there  is  a  great 
factory  district,  in  the  northwest  a  wealthy  residential  district 
including  Tioga  and  Germantown.  West  Philadelphia  is  char- 
acterized by  the  homes  of  the  average  American  workingman. 

The  ten  districts,  generally  speaking,  may  be  said  to  have  the 
following  characteristics :  District  1,  rather  poor  social  class  work- 
ing in  factories  in  the  40th  and  36th  wards,  with  a  better  residen- 
tial section  in  the  46th  and  27th  wards ;  District  2,  Americans  of 
the  lower  class,  with  a  large  foreign  element;  District  3,  almost 
entirely  foreign,  with  a  considerable  colored  element;  District  4, 
business  section,  old  aristocratic  section,  large  colored  element, 
and  west  of  the  Schuylkill  residential ;  District  5,  residential,  with 
large  colored  element,  business  section;  District  6,  large  foreign 
element,  large  colored  element,  poor  laboring  class,  and  in  the  32d 
ward  a  better  residential  section;  District  7,  factory  section; 
District  8,  good  residential  section,  also  factories ;  District  9,  good 
residential  section  with  one  factory  ward;  District  10,  rural  out- 
lying district,  factory  districts  with  small  settlements  of  foreigners. 
We  can  readily  see  that  District  3,  composed  almost  wholly  of 
foreigners,  and  District  4,  with  a  large  negro  element,  have  the 
greatest  amount  of  retardation ;  and  that  Districts  2,  5  and  1,  with 
a  considerable  foreign  element  and  poor  home  conditions,  follow. 
District  6,  although  having  a  large  foreign  element,  has  a  counter- 
balancing factor  in  a  better  residential  section.  District  8,  besides 
a  large  residential  section,  has  a  considerable  factory  element  to 
augment  the  retardation.  District  7  has  a  low  percentage  of  retar- 
dation, although  of  a  rather  low  social  order,  but  its  low  rate  of 
retardation  will  be  seen  to  be  due  in  part  to  the  high  elimination 
rate  and  to  the  absence  of  the  negtro  element.  Districts  9  and  10 
with  low  retardation  rates  are  partly  rural  and  residential. 


8  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

We  can  see  that  each  district  is  too  large  to  permit  us  to 
establish  a  relation  between  the  social  condition  and  retardation, 
except  in  a  general  way.  Each  district,  however,  is  composed  of  a 
number  of  political  wards,  some  of  which  are  nearly  homogeneous 
socially.  In  District  1  the  retardation  is  41.8  per  cent,  the  wards 
with  poor  social  conditions  showing  about  3  per  cent  more  retarda- 
tion and  the  better  residential  wards  about  3  per  cent  less.  For 
District  2,  with  44.5  per  cent  of  retardation,  the  ward  retardation 
is  fairly  uniform.  In  District  3,  with  a  retardation  of  47.0  per 
cent,  the  greatest  variation  is  in  the  30th  ward,  which  has  42.9 
per  cent.  In  District  4,  with  a  retardation  of  45.1  per  cent,  the 
7th  ward  has  62.2  per  cent  (colored),  and  the  9th  ward  57.8  per 
cent.  The  latter  is  a  business  section  with  very  poor  and  hetero- 
geneous elements  in  the  smaller  streets.  In  District  5  the  retarda- 
tion is  44.7  per  cent,  and  shows  the  10th  ward  with  53.7  per  cent 
of  retardation.  This  is  also  a  business  section  with  many  apart- 
ment houses,  and  with  a  poor  social  element  in  the  side  streets. 
District  6,  with  37.2  per  cent  of  retardation,  shows  45.1  per  cent 
in  the  14th  ward,  which  has  a  considerable  negro  element  besides  a 
large  number  of  foreigners.  The  32d  ward,  which  is  a  very 
good  residential  section,  has  a  retardation  rate  of  only  33.6  per 
cent.  District  7,  with  35.5  per  cent  of  retardation  includes  the 
factory  wards,  and  there  is  not  much  difference  in  the  percentage 
of  retardation  among  them.  District  8,  with  38.5  per  cent  of  re- 
tardation includes  the  21st  ward  with  34.3  per  cent,  showing  the 
effect  of  rural  conditions.  District  9,  with  36.0  per  cent  of  retard- 
ation, shows  the  22d  ward  with  40.1  per  cent.  This  ward  includes 
two  colored  schools.  The  43d  ward  has  a  retardation  rate  of  34.6 
per  cent.  This  is  a  good  residential  section.  District  10,  with 
33.3  per  cent  of  retardation,  shows  29.9  per  cent  in  the  25th  ward 
and  37.3  per  cent  in  the  45th  ward.  The  former  is  a  factory  dis- 
trict, which  has  a  rather  low  rate  of  retardation  owing  to  the  high 
elimination,  while  the  latter  contains  a  large  percentage  of  foreign- 
ers, with  a  number  of  parochial  schools,  which  always  increase  the 
rate  of  retardation. 

Many  wards  are  differently  constituted  socially  in  their 
various  parts,  so  that  it  would  be  profitable  to  investigate  further 
the  separate  schools  in  each  ward.  The  table  on  page  9  gives  in 
more  detail  the  social  components  of  District  6. 

District  6  comprises  five  wards.  In  the  12th  ward,  which 
contains  only  two  colored  schools,  the  retardation  is  34.8  per  cent, 
although  the  schools  contain  80  and  90  per  cent  of  foreigners,  but 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


TABLE   VI. 


Wards  and 
Schools 

Ward 
Retardation 

Divisions 

Number 

Retardation 

Social   Components 

G   ;   P 

K 

T 

12th  

34.8 

0 

0 

0 
18 
10 

0 
1.5 

8 

0 
17 

0 

12 

3 
18 
5 
16 
11 
0 

17 
21 

13 
5 
17 

7 
3.5 

13 

12 
12 
10 

9 

11 
9 
12 
10 
10 
11 

2 
4 

2 

1 
2 

2 
1 

2 

3 

1 
1 

0 

1 
0 
2 
2 
0 
2 

19 
25 

15 

24 
29 

9 
6 

23 

15 
30 
11 

21 

15 
27 
19 
28 
21 
13 

821 
1088 

639 
927 
1256 

386 
205 

984 

619 
1323 

475 

937 

615 
1201 
838 
1235 
957 
556 

32.3 
36.6 

37.7 
44.1 
47.4 

28.0 
66.3 

44.3 

36.6 
38.1 
32.3 

44.2 

29.0 
35.7 
38.9 
33.5 
36.5 
21.5 

Foreign  of  low  social  con- 
dition, 90  %. 
Foreign  of  low  social  con- 
dition, 80%. 

Foreign  of  low  social  con- 
dition, 80%,  with  slight 
colored  element. 
Foreign  of  low  social  con- 
dition, 80%. 

Residential  of  lower  order, 
colored    14%,    foreign 
30%. 
Foreign  of  low  social  con- 
dition, 75%. 
Colored  school. 

Residential    of    lower 
order,     25%     colored, 
70%  foreign. 
Foreign   of  lower   order, 
80%. 
Residential,  10%  foreign, 
negroes. 
Residential    of    lower 
order,     40%     foreign, 
negroes. 
Residential,  10%  foreign 
12%  colored. 

Residential  of   higher 
order,  good  conditions. 
Residential  of  higher 
order,  10%  foreign. 
Residential  of  higher 
order. 
Residential  of  higher 
order,  10%  foreign. 
Residential  of  higher 
order,  5%  foreign. 
Residential  of  higher 
order,  very  good  con- 
ditions. 

Mifflin     

Paxson 

13th     

41.8 

Warner 

Wyoming  

14th  

45.1 

Hancock  

Spring  Garden* 
Vaux 

20th 

40.6 

Lynd  
Penn 

Rutledge  

Webster 

Widener  

82d 

33.6 

Allison 

Elaine  

Camac     .  . 

Claghorn 

Singerly  

Stokley  

*Snrinff  Oardpn  Sohnnl  has  orarJ*»B  1   nnrl  9.  nnlv 


10  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

these  schools  contain  grades  1  to  4  only.  In  the  13th  ward  the 
Warner  School,  with  80  per  cent  of  foreigners,  has  37.6  per  cent 
of  retardation.  The  Wyoming  School  has  44.1  per  cent  of  retarda- 
tion, about  the  average  percentage  for  schools  having  a  large 
foreign  element.  The  schools  of  the  20th  ward  have  a  rather  low 
percentage  of  retardation,  considering  the  social  components  of  the 
schools.  The  Lynd  School  has  44.3  per  cent  of  retardation,  with 
70  per  cent  foreign  and  25  per  cent  colored.  The  32d  ward  shows 
a  considerable  decrease  in  retardation,  the  ward  retardation  being 
only  33.6  per  cent,  with  no  school  varying  much  from  the  average 
except  the  Allison  School,  with  only  29.0  per  cent  of  retardation, 
and  the  Stokley  School  with  21.5  per  cent.  These  schools  are  not 
fully  graded,  and  draw  their  pupils  from  very  good  residential 
districts. 

We  see  that  city,  district,  ward,  and  school  are  made  up  of 
distinct  sociological  units.  In  each  of  these  units  the  home  condi- 
tions are  widely  different.  In  those  districts  where  retardation  is 
greatest,  the  sociological  unit  proves  to  be  the  one  in  which  home 
conditions  are  most  unfavorable  and  even  antagonistic  to  educa- 
tional influence.  A  course  of  study  has  been  prescribed  for  the  city 
as  a  whole,  as  if  the  various  districts  were  homogeneous  units,  equal 
sociologically  and  intellectually.  This  course  of  study  is  to  be  fol- 
lowed as  closely  for  the  foreigners  in  District  3,  as  for  the  native 
Americans  in  District  10.  Can  we  expect  equal  results  when  we 
apply  the  curriculum  inflexibly  to  these  widely  divergent  social 
units?  We  must  conclude  that  retardation  is  in  a  great  measure 
the  resultant  of  unfavorable  home  conditions,  combined  with  an 
inflexible  curriculum. 

Supervision  may  overcome  to  a  certain  extent  adverse  condi- 
tions, by  taking  these  facts  into  consideration.  The  standards  of 
requirement  must  be  differently  applied  to  the  different  sociological 
groups.  In  District  6,  for  example,  we  expect  to  find  a  large  per- 
centage of  retardation,  for  here  are  a  large  foreign  element,  a. 
large  colored  element,  and  (with  the  exception  of  the  32d  ward) 
poor  social  conditions;  yet  in  this  district  with  a  comparatively 
poor  element  from  which  to  draw,  we  find  a  comparatively  low  rate 
of  retardation.  Why  is  it  that  the  retardation  in  schools  with  60  to 
80  per  cent  of  foreigners  does  not  begin  to  be  as  great  as  that  in 
schools  in  other  districts  where  conditions  are  approximately  the 
same?  This  district  has  been  under  the  superintendence  of  one 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


11 


who  has  been  especially  interested  in  the  problem,  and  it  would  be 
fair  to  say  that  the  course  of  study  has  been  interpreted  less  rigidly 
and  more  in  accord  with  the  needs  of  the  sociological  unit. 

A  closer  study  of  the  colored  and  foreign  elements  brings  to 
light  facts  which  substantiate  the  conclusions  already  drawn. 

The  Colored  Element. 

In  most  of  the  schools  of  Philadelphia,  white  and  colored 
pupils  are  mixed  in  varying  proportions,  according  to  the  district. 
There  are  nine  schools  for  colored  children  exclusively.  The 
following  table  shows  a  surprising  contrast  between  these  schools 
and  the  others: 


TABLE    VII.       RETARDATION 


THE    COLORED    SCHOOLS 


School 

District 

Divisions 

Grades 

Number 

Retard- 
ation 

Attend- 
ance 

G 

P 

K 

T 

J.  Miller  
Pollock  

1 

3 
4 
4 
4 
6 
9 
9 
10 

0 
0 
1 
0 
0 

1.5 
2 
0 
1 

2 
10 
6 
9 
1 
3.5 
5 
3 
2 

1 
1 
1 
1 

0 
1 
1 

1 
0 

3 
11 

8 
10 
1 
6 
8 
4 
3 

1-4 
1-4 
1-5 
1-4 
1-4 
1-6 
1-8 
1-4 
1-8 

148 
413 
336 
434 
31 
205 
385 
175 
138 

68.2 

60.6 
67.3 
70.9 
46.4 
66.3 
72.0 
58.2 
59.3 

83.7 
83.5 
80.7 
76.3 
93.5 
76.0 
80.2 
80.0 
84.7 

Catto  

Ramsey 

Purvis 

Vaux  

Hill     

Meehan 

Wilmot  

In  District  1  the  J.  Miller  School  has  68.2  per  cent  of  re- 
tardation, against  41.8  for  the  district,  the  school  having  the  next 
highest  amount  of  retardation  being  the  Boon's  Dam,  with  49.1 
per  cent  (8  per  cent  colored).  In  District  3  the  Pollock  School 
has  60.6  per  cent  of  retardation,  against  44.5  per  cent  for  the 
district,  the  school  having  the  next  highest  amount  of  retardation 
being  the  Florence,  with  56.0  per  cent  (nearly  100  per  cent  for- 
eign). In  District  4  the  Catto  School  has  67.3  per  cent  of  re- 
tardation, and  the  Ramsey  70.9  per  cent,  against  45.1  per  cent 
for  the  district.  The  Keystone  School,  44  per  cent  colored,  has 
the  next  highest  amount  of  retardation,  57.8  per  cent.  In  Dis- 
trict 6  the  Vaux  School  has  66.3  per  cent  of  retardation,  against 
37.2  per  cent  for  the  district.  The  Hancock  School  (13  per  cent 


12  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 

colored),  with  47.4  per  cent  retardation,  has  the  next  highest 
percentage.  In  District  9  the  Hill  School  and  the  Meehan  have 
72.-S  per  cent  and  58.2  per  cent  of  retardation  respectively,  against 
36  per  cent  for  the  district.  The  Gilbert  School  (6  per  cent 
colored),  with  51.6  per  cent,  stands  next.  The  high  percentage 
of  retardation  here,  however,  seems  to  be  due  to  local  causes,  as 
the  Harmer,  which  is  next  below,  has  only  45.0  per  cent,  and  the 
percentages  of  retardation  of  the  schools  below  this  fall  off  nor- 
mally. In  District  10  the  Wilmot  School  has  59.3  per  cent  of  re- 
tardation, against  33.3  per  cent  for  the  district,  the  next  school 
being  the  Martin,  with  51.1  per  cent.  This  school  has  a  large 
foreign  element  and  also  draws  a  number  of  its  pupils  from  three 
parochial  schools  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Marshall  School  fol- 
lows the  Martin,  with  46.5  per  cent,  after  which  comes  the  Lawn- 
dale,  with  40.2  per  cent,  which  is  more  typical  of  the  district. 

In  every  case  the  colored  schools  are  far  above  the  others  in 
the  amount  of  retardation.  Taking  the  schools  with  20  per  cent 
colored  children  or  over,  we  can  see  an  increase  as  a  whole  in 
retardation.  With  8188  colored  pupils  showing  so  great  an  amount 
of  retardation,  it  is  obvious  that  the  total  retardation  is  affected. 
In  comparing  the  grades  this  colored  retardation  is  a  considerable 
factor,  as  the  colored  pupil  does  not  often  get  above  the  sixth  grade 
before  leaving  school.  One  result  of  this  is  to  swell  the  amount  of 
retardation  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades. 

If  we  look  over  the  retardation  of  the  several  districts  we 
see  that  District  7  has  practically  no  negro  element  and  that  in 
Districts  8  and  10  the  negro  element  is  only  2.1  per  cent  and  1.4 
per  cent  respectively.  District  6,  on  the  other  hand,  has  a  large 
percentage  of  colored  pupils  (7.1  per  cent)  and  still  has  a  com- 
paratively low  rate  of  retardation.  Districts  3  and  4  have  the 
largest  percentages  of  retardation  and  also  the  largest  proportion 
of  negroes.  It  is  not  contended  that  the  negro  element  is  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  greater  retardation  in  these  districts,  but  that 
it  is  one  of  the  factors.  This  sociological  element  influences  the 
whole  system  and  adds  to  the  amount  of  retardation.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  course  of  study  is  suited  to  the  negroes,  as  the 
educational  results  are  so  far  behind  those  in  the  other  schools, 
and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  even  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the 
course  of  study  would  meet  the  educational  necessities  of  this 
group. 


II. 

The  Foreign  Element. 

The  foreign  element  raises  the  retardation  above  the  average 
for  the  city,  but  not  to  as  great  an  extent  as  the  negro  element.  In 
studying  this  phase  of  the  problem,  such  detailed  statistics  as  ob- 
tained for  the  colored  pupils  were  not  available.  We  have  secured, 
however,  a  list  of  the  schools  in  Districts  1,  2,  3,  5,  6  and  10 
with  over  25  per  cent  of  foreign  pupils.  Districts  8  and  9  have 
no  schools  with  over  25  per  cent  foreign.  By  foreign  is  here 
meant  those  whose  home  conditions  are  characterized  by  foreign 
customs  and  speech. 

Note  must  be  taken  not  only  of  the  rate  of  retardation  of  the 
school,  but  of  the  number  of  pupils  and  the  grades  in  the  schools, 
as  the  retardation  in  schools  with  grades  1  to  4  only,  no  matter 
what  the  conditions  are,  will  be  less  than  in  fully  graded  schools. 
This  is  true  to  a  less  extent  of  schools  which  contain  grades  1  to 
4  only.  The  table  on  page  14  shows  the  retardation  of  schools 
with  over  25  per  cent  foreign  pupils  for  six  of  the  districts. 

From  this  table  we  see  that  the  schools  with  25  per  cent  or 
more  of  foreign  pupils  range  in  retardation  from  40  per  cent  up- 
ward. In  some  schools  the  percentage  of  foreign  pupils  rises  to 
100  per  cent,  but  in  no  school  does  the  retardation  equal  that  of 
the  colored  children.  In  schools  with  only  25  per  cent  foreign, 
other  causes  may  reduce  retardation. 

It  is  curious  to  note  the  relatively  small  percentage  of  re- 
tardation in  some  of  the  schools  of  District  6  with  80  per  cent 
and  90  per  cent  foreign,  besides  a  considerable  colored  element : 

Mifflin  School,  90  per  cent  foreign,  with  32.3  per  cent  retarded 

Paxson     "        80        "  "  "  36.6 

Warner     "         80         "  "  "  37.6 

Penn        "        80        "  "  "  36.6         "              " 

Webster    "        40        "  "  "  32.3 

These  schools  contain  grades  1  to  4  only,  but  may  be  compared  with 
schools  of  the  same  grades  in  Districts  2  and  3,  where  the  retard- 
ation is  40  to  50  per  cent. 

(13) 


14 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


TABLE  VIII.      RETARDATION   IN   SCHOOLS   WITH  OVER  25  PER  CENT  FOREIGN   PUPILS 


Schools 

Divisions 

Number 

Retard- 
ation 

Attend- 
ance 

G 

P 

K 

T 

District  I. 
Point  Breeze  .  .  . 

1 
3 

2 
0 
10 
11 
14 
0 
0 
17 
0 

0 
10 
0 
0 
13 
0 
0 
0 
14 
0 
0 
0 

14 
3 
0 

0 
0 
0 
18 
10 
8 
0 
0 

6 
0 
5 

8 

4 

8 

18 
15 
14 
7 
9 
12 
21 
7 
19 

19 
12 
7 
22 
25 
18 
21 
17 
12 
17 
8 
16 

10 
10 

28 

17 
21 
13 
5 
17 
13 
12 
10 

13 

18 
10 

7 

1 

0 

0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

0 
0 
0 
2 

0 
0 
1 
4 
0 
1 
2 
3 
0 
1 
1 
2 

1 
4 
3 

2 

4 
2 

1 
2 
2 
3 
1 

2 
2 
1 
0 

6 
11 

20 
15 
24 
18 
24 
12 
21 
24 
21 

19 
22 
8 
26 
38 
19 
23 
20 
26 
18 
9 
18 

25 
17 
31 

19 
25 
15 
24 
29 
23 
15 
11 

21 
20 
16 
15 

250 
556 

931 
735 
1256 
841 
1133 
607 
967 
1120 
976 

984 
994 
352 
1138 
1759 
890 
1095 
964 
1273 
870 
457 
749 

1123 
618 
1426 

821 
1008 
639 
927 
1256 
984 
619 
475 

946 
846 
711 
693 

40.3 

49.1 

44.2 
46.4 
46.1 
40.9 
41.1 
44.5 
43.1 
47.5 
45.1 

51.3 
54.8 
55.2 
53.9 
38.2 
45.9 
44.7 
56.0 
48.6 
39.5 
33.5 
46.4 

42.5 
48.4 
45.5 

32.3 

36.6 
37.6 
44.1 
47.4 
44.3 
36.6 
32.3 

40.2 
32.8 
37.0 
51.1 

92.0 

88.6 

91.2 

89.5 
88.8 
93.0 
90.2 
89.0 
91.1 
88.1 
83.2 

91.9 
92.9 
84.6 
83.5 
92.1 
93.0 
89.4 
88.5 
92.9 
94.8 
92.6 
87.5 

91.8 
90.4 

88.5 

90.2 

82.4 
86.0 
89.9 
89.4 
88.8 
87.3 
87.1 

89.0 
89.5 
88.7 
92.7 

Boon's  Dam 

District  II. 
Read 

Tasker 

Close  

Baugh      

Vare 

Calhoun 

Fov  . 

Sharswood  

Taceiart 

District  III. 
Hay             

Nebinger 

Stockdale 

Washington  

Wharton      .    ... 

Burk 

Fletcher  

Florence  

Mt  Vernon     .    .  . 

IMeredith 

Ralston*  

Randall        

District  V. 
Binney      

Forten 

TVharton 

District  VI. 
Mifflin 

Paxson  

Warner     

Wyoming         .    . 

Hancock 

Lvnd.  . 

Penn  

Webster  

District  X. 
Longfellow  

McClellan  

Bridesburg  

Martin  

*  Grades  1-2  only. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  15 

Summary  : 

(1)  The  home  conditions  of  the  sociological  units  are  an  im- 
portant factor  in  retardation. 

(2)  The  negro  element  is  out  of  accord  with  the  educational 
system,  and  is  an  important  factor  in  retardation. 

(3)  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  foreign  element,  to  a  less 
extent. 

(4)  Supervision  may  reduce  retardation  by  a  more  liberal 
interpretation  of  the  course  of  study. 

Retardation  in  the  Schools. 

When  comparing  the  retardation  of  different  districts,  it  is 
desirable  to  know  whether  the  retardation  in  each  district  is 
uniform  throughout  or  whether  the  average  is  raised  or  lowered  by 
certain  schools.  In  the  table  on  page  16  the  schools  in  each  dis- 
trict are  arranged  in  groups  according  to  their  percentage  of  re- 
tardation, e.  g.,  there  are  four  schools  in  District  1  with  between 
35  and  40  per  cent  of  retardation,  four  schools  with  between  40 
and  45  per  cent,  and  so  on. 

The  first  thing  to  note  is  the  high  percentage  of  retardation 
in  the  colored  schools,  the  next  is  the  comparatively  low  retarda- 
tion of  schools  with  grades  1  and  2,  or  1  to  4,  only.  The  retarda- 
tion in  Districts  2,  5,  7  and  8  is  more  uniform  than  in  the  other 
districts. 

The  schools  in  Districts  2,  3,  4  and  5  are  much  larger  than 
those  of  Districts  9  and  10.  In  the  former  districts  there  are 
fewer  fully  graded  schools,  while  in  the  latter  group,  especially 
District  10,  the  fully  graded  schools  predominate.  This  is  due, 
of  course,  to  rural  conditions.  In  these  schools  there  seem  to  be 
conditions  favorable  to  greater  understanding  of  the  individual 
needs  of  the  child,  owing  probably  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
schools  are  small  and  have  few  pupils  in  each  grade.  In  the 
larger  schools  of  the  congested  districts  the  lockstep  of  the  cur- 
riculum must  be  preserved,  even  where  individual  instruction  is 
most  needed.  This  has  the  effect  of  augmenting  the  amount  of 
retardation.  Deficiency  in  certain  branches,  notably  arithmetic 
and  spelling,  often  is  the  cause  of  a  pupil's  failure  to  advance. 
Individual  attention  is  not  to  be  had,  and  the  pupil's  entire  edu- 
cation must  be  neglected  while  he  is  making  futile  efforts  to  reach 
a  fixed  standard  in  these  branches.  Promotions  should  be  made 
according  to  individual  need,  not  by  a  fixed  rule  for  the  average 
child.  A  course  of  study  must  be  liberally  interpreted  in  the 


16 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


TABLE  IX.      SCHOOLS  IN  EACH  DISTRICT  CLASSIFIED  ACCORDING  TO  PERCENTAGE  OP 

RETARDATION. 


DISTRICT. 

OS 

i 

25-29% 

CO 

g 

1 

g 

i 

g 

1 

f 

70-74% 

TOTALS. 

1 

1-4 
1 

1-4 

1 

4 

4 

8 

c 

1 

19 

2 

1-2 

1 

2 

7 

8- 

1 

19 

3 

1-2 

1 

4 

1 

5 

4 

2 

c 

1 

18 

4 

1-4 
1 

2 

5 

4 

6 

2 

2 

c 

1 

C 

2 

25 

5 

SP 

1 

1 

1 

6 

6 

3 

1 

19 

6 

1-2 
1-4 
2 

1-6 
1 

3 

8 

3 

1 

c 

1 

19 

7 

1-4 

4 

4 

10 

2 

20 

8 

3 

4 

6 

6 

4 

23 

9 

1-4 
2 

1 

6 

5 

12 

4 

1 

1 

c 

1 

0 

1 

34 

10 

4 

6 

12 

6 

2 

1 

1 

c 

1 

33 

Totals 

3 

8 

24 

31 

58 

39 

40 

12 

7 

c 

1 

c 
3 

c 
3    i     229 

1-2  =grades  1-2  only.  1-4  =grade3  1-4  only. 

1-6=  grades  1-6  only.  c=  colored  schools. 

S  P  =Practice  school  of  School  of  Pedagogy. 


classroom.  In  every  class  are  found  the  bright  pupils,  the  average 
pupils,  and  the  slow  pupils.  If  the  amount  of  detail  required 
were  varied  to  suit  the  ability  of  these  three  kinds  of  children, 
much  retardation  would  be  avoided.  This  is  only  another  example 
of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  supervision. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


17 


Acceleration. 

In  previous  studies  of  retardation  little  attention  has  been 
given  either  to  pupils  of  normal  age  for  their  grades,  or  to  acceler- 
ated pupils.  The  following  table  summarizes  the  retardation, 
normal  progress,  and 'acceleration  for  the  ten  districts. 

TABLE   X.      PERCENTAGES   OF   RETARDED,    NORMAL,    AND    ACCELERATED   PUPILS    BY 
DISTRICTS    ARRANGED    IN    ORDER    OF    AMOUNT    OF    RETARDATION. 


District 

BOYS 

| 
3 

3 

GIRLS 

District 

BOTH 

Retarded 

1 

Accelerated 

1 

I 

Accelerated 

Retarded 

Normal 

Accelerated 

3 

48.1 

29.1 

22.8 

45.8 

27.9 

26.3 

3 

47.0 

28.5 

24.5 

5 

46.1 

28.4 

25.5 

4 

44.4 

29.4 

26.2 

4 

45.1 

28.9 

26.0 

4 

46.0 

28.3 

25.7 

5 

43.3 

30.1 

26.6 

5 

44.7 

29.2 

26.1 

2 

45.9 

30.6 

23.5 

2 

43.2 

31.6 

25.2 

2 

44.5 

31.1 

24.4 

1 

41.9 

31.1 

27.0 

1 

41.7 

30.5 

27.8 

1 

41.8 

30.8 

27.4 

8 

40.1 

29.8 

30.1 

6 

37.3 

31.7 

31.0 

8 

38.5 

30.2 

31.3 

9 

37.5 

30.3 

32.2 

8 

36.9 

30.7 

32.4 

6 

37.2 

32.3 

30.5 

6 

37.2 

32.9 

29.9 

9 

34.5 

31.7 

33.8 

9 

36.0 

31.0 

33.0 

7 

36.8 

31.6 

31.6 

7 

34.2 

30.7 

35.1 

7 

35.5 

31.2 

33.3 

10 

35.9 

31.1 

33.0 

30.6 

31.5 

37.9 

10 

33.3 

31.3 

35.4 

Totals 

41.7 

30.2 

28.1 

39.2 

30.6 

30.2 

40.3 

30.5 

29.2 

The  percentage  of  pupils  making  normal  progress  ranges  only 
between  28.5  per  cent  in  District  3,  and  32.3  per  cent  in  District 
6,  an  average  of  30.5  per  cent.  This  is  practically  the  same  for 
boys  as  for  girls,  the  former  being  30.2  per  cent,  the  latter  30.6 
per  cent.  Acceleration  has  a  wider  range,  from  24.5  per  cent  in 
District  3  to  35.4  per  cent  in  District  10.  The  girls  are  more 
accelerated  than  the  boys,  and  are  less  retarded,  but  the  percentage 
of  girls  making  normal  progress  is  about  the  same.  Studying  the 
separate  schools  in  each  district,  it  is  found  that  the  normal-prog- 
ress pupils  range  only  between  28  and  33  per  cent.  This  holds 
good  for  the  schools  in  Districts  3  and  4  where  retardation  is 
greatest,  as  well  as  for  Districts  7  and  10  where  it  is  least.  The 
acceleration  in  the  schools  of  the  different  districts  varies  consid- 
erably, and  we  may  say  that  the  acceleration  varies  approximately 
inversely  as  the  retardation,  while  normal  progress  remains  ap- 
proximately a  constant.  The  following  table  summarizes  the 
retardation,  normal  progress  and  acceleration  for  the  city. 


18 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


Boys  . 

TABLE  XI. 
Retardation 

41  7 

Normal 
30  2 

Acceleration 

28  1 

Girls  . 

,   39.2 

30.6 

30.2 

Both 


40.3 


30.5 


29.2 


A  study  of  the  districts  by  grades  shows  that  the  normal 
remains  approximately  at  31  per  cent  for  grades  8,  6,  3,  2  and  1, 
but  falls  off  in  grades  5  and  4,  where  the  retardation  is  greatest, 
to  26.2  per  cent  and  25.9  per  cent  respectively.  It  rises  in  grade 
7"  to  36.2  per  cent.  The  acceleration  bears  a  more  direct  relation 
to  the  retardation,  the  grade  with  a  high  retardation  rate  having 
a  low  acceleration  rate  and  vice  versa.  The  lowest  acceleration  is 
in  grades  5  and  4,  which  have  19.1  per  cent  and  20.4  per  cent 
respectively.  The  highest  acceleration,  49.1  per  cent,  is  in  the 
first  grade,  due,  of  course,  to  early  entrance.  The  eighth  grade 
has  the  next  highest  percentage,  35.1  per  cent.  The  following 
table  gives  the  summary  by  grades  for  the  city. 


TABLE  XII. 


SUMMARY  OF  RETARDATION,  NORMAL  PROGRESS,  AND    ACCELERATION 
FOR   THE    CITY. 


GRADES 

BOT8 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

! 

Normal 

Accelerated 

Retarded 

Normal 

Accelerated 

Retarded 

Normal 

Accelerated 

8 

31.2 

33.0 

35.8 

31.3 

34.2 

34.5 

31.3 

33.6 

35.1 

7 

35.5 

36.1 

28.4 

35.9 

36.2 

27.9 

35.7 

36.2 

28.1 

6 

48.1 

30.1 

21.8 

47.1 

30.5 

22.4 

47.6 

30.3 

22.1 

5 

55.3 

25.5 

19.2 

54.1 

26.8 

19.1 

54.7 

26.2 

19.1 

4 

56.2 

25.1 

18.7 

51.2 

26.7 

22.1 

53.7 

25.9 

20  .4 

3 

50.5 

29.5 

20.0 

45.5 

30.8 

23.7 

48.0 

30.1 

21.9 

2 

39.1 

33.0 

27.9 

34.6 

32.7 

32.7 

36.9 

32.8 

30.3 

1 

20.1 

31.8 

48.1 

18.5 

31.3 

50.2 

19.3 

31.6 

49.1 

Totals 

41.7 

30.2 

28.1 

39.2 

30.6 

30.2 

40.3 

30.5 

29.2 

A  further  analysis  of  retardation  and  acceleration  shows  that 
the  retardation  extends  through  four  years  while  the  acceleration 
extends  through  only  two  years. 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA, 


19 


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20 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


In  all  districts  together  there  are  approximately  20  per  cent 
retarded  one  year,  10  per  cent  retarded  two  years,  5  per  cent 
retarded  three  years,  and  3  per  cent  in  Districts  1  to  6  and  1.5 
per  cent  in  Districts  7  to  10  retarded  four  years.  The  difference 
in  acceleration  is  very  marked.  The  acceleration  for  one  year 
ranges  from  22.0  per  cent  in  District  2  to  32.2  per  cent  in  District 
10,  but  for  two  years  it  ranges  only  from  2.1  per  cent  in  Districts 
3  and  4  to  3.5  per  cent  in  District  7. 

Retardation  for  one  year  is  the  same  for  both  boys  and 
girls,  21.0  per  cent,  but  retardation  for  two,  three  and  four  years 
is  higher  for  boys  than  for  girls.  The  following  table  gives  a 
summary  for  the  city: 


TABLE  XIV. 


Bovs  . 

lyr. 

.  .  .    21.0 

Retarded 
2  yrs.    3  yrs. 

12.1     5.5 
11.0     4.8 
11.6     5.1 

4  yrs. 

2.6 

2.2 
2.4 

Girls 

.  .  .   21.0 

Both  . 

,    21.0 

Normal 

30.2 
30.6 
30.5 


Accelerated 
1  yr.     2  yrs. 

25.7     2.6 


27.5 
26.6 


2.6 
2.6 


The  most  interesting  fact  in  this  study  is  brought  out  by  a 
comparison  of  the  normal  and  accelerated  pupils  for  the  years 
1908,  1909  and  1910.  These  tables  have  been  compiled  in  the 
same  manner  as  those  for  the  retardation  for  the  same  years  for 
boys,  girls  and  both,  for  the  ten  districts. 

TABLE  XV.      NORMAL  PROGRESS  BY  DISTRICTS  FOR  1908,   1909  AND  1910. 


1908 

1909 

1910 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

1 

29.5 

30.6 

30.1 

31.1 

30.5 

30.8 

31.4 

30.8 

31.1 

2 

29.1 

30.4 

29.8 

30.6 

31.6 

31.1 

30.9 

31.3 

31.2 

3 

26.6 

28.0 

27.3 

29.1 

27.9 

28.5 

27.6 

28.2 

27.9 

4 

27.1 

29.6 

28.3 

28.3 

29.4 

28.9 

29.7 

30.9 

30.3 

5 

28  4 

30  1 

29  2 

29.5 

29.2 

29.4 

6 

26.8 

30.5 

28.7 

32.9 

31.7 

32.3 

30.6 

31.0 

30.8 

7 

29.5 

30.8 

30.1 

31.6 

30.7 

31.2 

30.2 

29.4 

29.8 

8 

29.2 

31.0 

30.1 

29.8 

30.7 

30.2 

29.7 

30.8 

30.3 

9 

30.5 

31.0 

30.7 

30.3 

31.7 

31.0 

30.1 

31.8 

30.9 

10 

30.0 

31.1 

30.5 

31.1 

31.5 

31.3 

31.2 

31.3 

31.2 

Totals 

28.8 

30.3 

29.6 

30.2 

30.6 

30.5 

30.1 

30.5 

30.3 

RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


21 


TABLE   XVI.      ACCELERATION   BY   DISTRIC'IS   FOR    1908,    1909   AND    1910. 


1908 

1909 

1910 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

BOYS 

GIBLS 

BOTH 

1 

23.9 

26.3 

25.1 

27.0 

27.8 

27.4 

27.3 

28.6 

28.0 

2 

23.6 

24.1 

23.9 

23.5 

25.2 

24.4 

24.3 

25.8 

24.9 

3 

22.7 

25.8 

24.2 

22.8 

26.3 

24.5 

23.9 

25.9 

24.9 

4 

24.0 

23.8 

23.9 

25.7 

26.2 

26.0 

27.2 

28.6 

27.8 

5 

25  5 

26  6 

26.1 

27.9 

28.8 

28.3 

6 

29.5 

29.8 

29.7 

29.9 

31.0 

30.5 

33.6 

33.3 

33.5 

7 

30.0 

33.5 

31.7 

31.6 

35.1 

33.3 

35.1 

37.7 

36.4 

8 

27.8 

31.8 

29.8 

30.1 

32.4 

31.3 

32.2 

34.5 

33.4 

9 

31.2 

33.0 

32.1 

32.2 

33.8 

33.0 

33.7 

35.4 

34.5 

10 

32.0 

37.2 

34.5 

33.0 

37.9 

35.4 

32.6 

38.0 

35.3 

Totals 

27.2 

29.5 

28.4 

28.1 

30.2 

29.2 

29.7 

31.5 

30.6 

As  the  retardation  for  the  years  1908,  1909  and  1910  has 
decreased  from  42.4  per  cent  to  40.3  per  cent  and  then  to  38.8 
per  cent,  we  should  expect  to  find  an  increase  in  the  amount  of 
normal  progress,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  It  is  true  there  is  a 
slight  increase  for  1909,  but  1910  shows  a  very  slight  falling  off. 
The  acceleration,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  a  corresponding  regu- 
lar increase  for  boys  as  well  as  girls,  averaging  28.4  per  cent  for 
1908,  29.2  per  cent  for  1909,  and  30.6  per  cent  for  1910.  From 
this  it  would  seem  that  retardation  is  being  increased  as  a  result  of 
supervision,  which  is  pushing  up  pupils  all  along  the  line.  This 
has  been  the  true  state  of  affairs,  and  furthermore,  provision  has 
been  made  in  the  system  for  the  more  rapid  advancement  of 
brighter  pupils  by  means  of  the  so-called  "incidental  promotion". 
The  tendency  thus  shown  to  decrease  the  inflexibility  of  the  cur- 
riculum is  an  undoubted  sign  of  progress.  The  relation  of 
retarded,  normal,  and  accelerated  pupils  for  the  years  1908,  1909 
and  1910,  may  be  graphically  represented  in  the  table  on  page 
116. 

Summary  : 

(1)  There  is  a  considerable  percentage  of  pupils  accelerated, 
as  well  as  of  those  retarded;  28.1  per  cent  of  the  boys  are  accel- 
erated to  41.7  per  cent  retarded;  30.2  per  cent  girls  accelerated 
to  39.2  per  cent  retarded;  while  29.2  per  cent  of  all  pupils  are 
accelerated  to  40.3  retarded. 

(2)  The  percentage  of  pupils  making  normal  progress  ap- 
pears to  remain  a  constant  for  boys  and  girls  at  about  30  per 
cent. 


22 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


(3)  While  retardation  has  decreased  during  the  past  three 
years,  the  amount  of  normal  progress  has  remained  approximately 
the  same,  and  acceleration  has  increased.  This  is  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  effect  of  supervision  in  encouraging  promotions  all 
along  the  line. 

TABLE  XVII.       GRAPHIC    REPRESENTATION    OF    RETARDATION,  NORMAL 

PROGRESS    AND    ACCELERATION. 
Percent.  1908  1909  1910 


4.0   R 

41 

40 

39 

f 

1 

38 

i 

R 

37 

36 

35 

34 

33 

32 

31 

30 

M 

N 
9Q 

98   A 

27 

-R=  Retardation. 


N N=  Normal  Progress. 

A •  A  =  Acceleration . 

Relation  of  Retardation  to  Number  of  Pupils  per  Teacher. 

The  overcrowded  condition  of  some  Philadelphia  schools  sug- 
gests that  this  condition  may  have  an  important  bearing  upon 
the  relative  amount  of  retardation  in  the  overcrowded  districts. 
For  a  study  of  this  aspect  of  the  problem  there  should  be  available 
the  number  of  pupils  in  each  class  in  each  school,  with  the  promo- 


RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  23 

tion  record  of  each  class.  This  information  not  heing  accessible, 
the  following  study  has  been  based  upon  the  number  of  pupils  in 
the  primary  grades  (one  to  four)  of  each  school  and  the  number 
of  primary  teachers  in  the  same  school,  and  upon  the  number  of 
pupils  in  the  grammar  grades  (five  to  eight)  with  the  correspond- 
ing number  of  grammar  teachers  in  each  school.  There  is  an  ad- 
vantage in  this  division,  as  it  is  in  the  primary  grades  that  over- 
crowding chiefly  occurs  and  elimination  is  at  the  minimum. 

A  study  of  the  separate  schools  of  the  districts  fails  to  reveal 
any  constant  relation  between  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher 
and  the  percentage  of  retardation.  If  the  results  of  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  separate  schools  are  summarized  by  districts,  it  is 
seen  that  Districts  1  and  2  show  five  pupils  per  teacher  more  in 
the  primary  than  in  the  grammar  grades,  with  5  per  cent  greater 
retardation  in  the  latter  than  in  the  former.  District  3  shows  41.8 
pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grammar  grades  to  47.8  in  the  primary, 
with  49.1  per  cent  of  retardation  in  the  former  to  46.4  per  cent 
in  the  latter.  District  4  shows  41.0  pupils-  per  teacher  in  the 
grammar,  to  44.4  in  the  primary,  with  52.4  per  cent  of  retardation 
in  the  former  to  41.2  per  cent  in  the  latter.  District  5  has  40.9 
pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grammar  to  44.5  in  the  primary,  with 
52.1  per  cent  of  retardation  in  the  former  to  41.8  per  cent  in  the 
latter.  The  greatest  divergence  between  grammar  and  primary 
retardation,  with  the  least  difference  in  number  of  pupils  per 
teacher  in  grammar  and  primary  grades  is  in  District  6,  with  40.2 
pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grammar  and  43.4  in  the  primary,  with 
a  grammar  retardation  of  45.4  per  cent  as  against  32.6  per  cent 
in  the  primary.  District  7  shows  43.6  pupils  per  teacher  in  the 
grammar,  44.5  in  the  primary,  with  40.2  per  cent  of  retardation 
in  the  former  and  33.2  per  cent  in  the  latter.  In  District  8  there 
are  42.4  pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grammar,  to  45.5  in  the  primary, 
with  a  retardation  of  44.3  per  cent  in  the  former  and  36.5  per 
cent  in  the  latter.  District  9  has  42.4  pupils  per  teacher  in  the 
grammar  and  46.7  in  the  primary,  with  a  retardation  of  43.1 
per  cent  in  the  former  to  33.9  per  cent  in  the  latter.  District  10 
has  42.4  pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grammar  to  43.8  in  the  primary, 
with  a  retardation  of  37.1  per  cent  in  the  former  to  32.2  per  cent 
in  the  primary. 

Here  again  there  seems  to  be  no  relation  between  district 
retardation  and  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  in  the  district. 
It  appears  that  the  primary  grades  may  have  more  pupils  per 
teacher  than  the  grammar  grades,  and  still  do  equally  if  not  more 


24 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


efficient  work  as  measured  by  the  criterion  of  retardation.  This 
may  be  due  to  the  higher  requirements  in  the  grammar  grades. 
The  controlling  factor,  as  shown  by  the  study  of  individual  schools, 
seems  to  be  the  teacher.  A  good  teacher  with  a  large  class  will 
get  better  results  than  a  poor  teacher  with  a  small  one. 

Elimination. 

If  all  children  remained  in  school  until  they  had  completed 
the  course  as  prescribed  for  the  elementary  grades,  the  comparative 
amount  of  retardation  between  cities  and  the  districts  of  the 
same  city  would  roughly  measure  the  efficiency  of  the  system.  At 
the  age  of  fourteen  years,  working  certificates  may  be  obtained, 
and  elimination  begins.  A  district  with  a  low  percentage  of 
retardation  may  have  a  high  rate  of  elimination,  the  rate  of  retar- 
dation appearing  low  because  of  the  fact  that  many  pupils  drop 
out,  who,  if  they  remained,  would  raise  the  retardation  rate.  The 
reverse  may  also  be  true,  namely,  a  district  with  a  high  rate  of 
retardation  may  have  a  comparatively  low  elimination  rate.  In 
calculating  elimination  the  method  employed  by  Ayres  has  been 
used. 

In  the  following  table  the  percentage  of  elimination  has  been 
computed  for  boys,  girls  and  both  for  the  ten  districts : 


TABLE   XVIII. 

A.    RETARDATION   VS.    ELIMINATION    OF   THE    TEN 
DISTRICTS. 


B.  THE   SAME   ARRANGED 

IN  ORDER  OF  AMOUNT 

OF   RETARDATION. 


i 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

BOTH 

Retardation 

Elimination 

Retardation 

Elimination 

Retardation 

Elimination 

1 

41.9 

66.0 

41.7 

56.5 

41.8 

61.2 

2 

45.9 

74.2 

43.2 

73.4 

44.5 

73.8 

3 

48.1 

80.2 

45.8 

78.7 

47.0 

79.4 

4 

46.0 

62.9 

44.4 

53.0 

45.1 

57.9 

5 

46.1 

56.4 

43.3 

59.6 

44.7 

58.0 

6 

37.2 

58.8 

37.3 

48.6 

37.2 

53.6 

7 

36.8 

74.4 

34.2 

69.4 

35.5 

72.0 

8 

40.1 

56.2 

36.9 

51.5 

38.5 

53.8 

9 

37.5 

63.2 

34.5 

65.0 

36.0 

64.1 

10 

35.9 

59.9 

30.6 

56.6 

33.3 

58.3 

Totals 

41.7 

65.6 

39.2 

61.7 

40.3 

63.3 

BOTH 

dft 

1 

g 

0 

o 

o 

s 

1 

1 

3 

I 

I 

1 

3 

47.0 

79.4 

4 

45.1 

57.9 

5 

44.7 

58.0 

2 

44.5 

73.8 

1 

41.8 

61.2 

8 

38.5 

53.8 

6 

37.2 

53.6 

9 

36.0 

64.1 

7 

35.5 

72.0 

10 

33.3 

58.3 

Totals 

40.3 

63.3 

RETARDATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  25 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  rate  of  elimination  for  girls  is  less 
than  that  for  boys,  being  61.7  per  cent  for  the  former  with  39.2 
per  cent  of  retardation,  and  65.6  per  cent  for  the  latter  with  41.7 
per  cent  of  retardation.  The  elimination  rate  for  both  is  63.3 
per  cent  as  against  40.3  per  cent  of  retardation. 

In  table  XVIII  B  the  districts  have  been  arranged  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  of  retardation  with  the  corresponding  elimina- 
tion. District  3  has  the  highest  rate  of  retardation  and  also  of 
elimination.  Districts  4,  5  and  2  vary  little  in  retardation,  but 
Districts  4  and  5  have  much  lower  rates  of  elimination  than  Dis- 
trict 2.  District  1  has  a  medium  retardation  rate,  and  likewise 
a  medium  elimination.  District  8  has  a  retardation  which  is 
higher  by  2  per  cent  than  that  of  District  9,  but  its  elimination 
rate  is  lower  by  11  per  cent.  District  6  has  a  rather  low  rate  of 
retardation,  and  the  lowest  elimination.  District  7  with  a  retar- 
dation of  only  35.5  per  cent  has  an  elimination  of  72.0  per  cent. 
This  great  elimination  accounts  for  a  mill  district  with  poor  social 
conditions  having  such  a  low  rate  of  retardation.  District  10 
has  the  lowest  retardation  rate,  33.3  per  cent,  and  also  a  low 
elimination  rate,  58.3  per  cent.  District  6  has  a  retardation  of 
37.2  per  cent  with  an  elimination  of  53.6  per  cent.  The  retarda- 
tion and  elimination  rates  of  Districts  6  and  10  taken  together 
tend  to  approximate  each  other,  but  the  social  conditions  are  very 
different  in  the  two  districts.  It  would  seem  from  what  has 
already  been  said  of  District  6  that  the  adverse  conditions  had,  in 
a  measure,  been  overcome  by  supervision.  The  elimination  is  low 
because  the  retardation  is  low.  It  is  failure  to  advance  that  raises 
the  elimination,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  dropping  out  of  large 
numbers  of  pupils  after  the  semi-annual  promotions. 

District  7,  with  a  retardation  of  35.5  per  cent  and  an  elimin- 
ation of  72.0  per  cent,  seems  to  contradict  the  statement  just  made, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  District  7  is  a  factory  district 
where  it  is  customary  for  the  children  to  go  to  work  as  soon  as 
they  are  fourteen  years  old.  It  seems  that  foreign  parents  are 
more  anxious  that  their  children  should  remain  in  school,  when 
this  is  possible,  if  they  are  making  progress. 
Summary : 

(1)  The   retardation  rate  is  often  misleading  in  making 
comparisons  where  the  elimination  rate  is  not  known. 

(2)  The  less  retardation,  if  we  except  abnormal  conditions 
(large  proportions  of  foreign  or  negro  population,  factory  districts, 
and  in  general  very  low  social  conditions),  the  less  elimination 
we  find. 


26 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC. 


(3)  Supervision  may,  by  decreasing  retardation,  also  lower 
the  elimination  rate. 

Retardation  l>y  Districts  According  to  the  Falfcner  Method. 

In  a  recent  article  by  Falkner1  in  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL 
CLINIC,  the  common  method  of  calculating  retardation  has  been 
objected  to  as  being  cumbersome  and  not  giving  the  true  amount 
of  retardation,  because  it  fails  to  recognize  elimination,  which 
begins  at  fourteen  years  of  age.  It  is  suggested  that  retardation 
be  calculated  on  a  basis  of  the  number  of  thirteen-year-old  pupils 
who  have  not  reached  a  certain  grade,  in  other  words  that  retar- 
dation be  calculated  at  its  maximum.  The  following  table  com- 
pares the  retardation  of  the  ten  districts  as  calculated  by  the  two 
methods. 

TABLE  XIX.   RETARDATION  BY  FALKNER  METHOD  AND  REGULAR  METHOD. 


A.  IN  ORDER  OF  DISTRICTS. 


B.  IN  ORDER  OF  AMOUNT  OF 
RETARDATION. 


District 

Falkner 
Method 

Regular 
Method 

1 

69.3 

41.8 

2 

73.2 

44.5 

3 

76.1 

47.0 

4 

68.9 

45.1 

5 

70.3 

44.7 

6 

62.0 

37.2 

7 

67.3 

35  5 

8 

66.8 

38.5 

9 

65.6 

36.0 

10 

57.6 

33.6 

District 

Falkner 
Method 

District 

Regular 
Method 

3 

76.1 

3 

47.0 

2 

73.0 

4 

45.1 

5 

70.3 

5 

44.7 

1 

69.3 

2 

44.5 

4 

68.9 

1 

41.8 

7 

67.3 

8 

38.5 

8 

66.8 

9 

36.0 

9 

65.6 

6 

37.2 

6 

62.0 

7 

35.5 

10 

57.6 

10 

33.3 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  maximum  retardation  by  the  Falkner 
method  is  76.1  per  cent  in  District  3,  as  against  47.0  per  cent  in 
the  same  district  by  the  regular  method,  and  that  the  minimum 
is  57.6  per  cent  in  District  10  as  against  33.3  per  cent  in  the 
same  district.  Most  of  the  other  districts  change  order  in  amount 
of  retardation  when  the  Falkner  method  is  used.  District  1  is 
one  point  out ;  District  2,  two  points  out ;  District  4  is  three  points 
out;  District  5  remains  the  same.  District  6  is  one  point  out; 
District  7,  three  points ;  Districts  8  and  9,  each  one  point  out. 
The  falling  of  District  4  from  second  place  by  the  regular  method 

1  Falkner,   R.   P.     The   Fundamental   Expression   of   Retardation,   THE   PSYCHO- 
LOGICAL CLINIC,  Vol.  IV,  No.  8,  Jan.,  1911,  p.  213. 


RETARDATION  IN 


to  fifth  place  by  the  Falkner  method  is  due  to  the  comparatively 
low  rate  of  elimination,  57.9  per  cent.  District  7  changes  from 
ninth  place  by  the  regular  method  to  sixth  place  by  the  Falkner 
method  on  account  of  its  high  rate  of  elimination,  72  per  cent. 

The  Falkner  method  evidently  gives  a  much  truer  measure  of 
an  educational  system  if  the  elimination  rate  is  not  known,  than 
does  the  regular  method.  On  the  other  hand,  it  fails  to  take  into 
consideration  the  entire  number  of  pupils  enrolled.  It  is  valuable 
as  a  supplementary  method  to  check  up  results,  and  will  often 
make  the  retardation  statistics  clearer  and  uncover  facts  that 
otherwise  might  pass  unnoticed. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  this  investigation  we  note  that 
to  the  pedagogical  and  psychological  factors  already  recognized 
as  contributing  to  retardation,  we  must  add  a  third,  the  sociological 
factor. 

From  the  psychological  point  of  view,  we  see  the  need  of 
conditions  which  will  make  possible  the  giving  of  more  attention 
to  individual  pupils,  not  only  in  their  school  work,  but  in  deciding 
whether  it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  the  pupil  to  be  promoted  or 
left  down,  irrespective  of  the  requirements  for  the  average. 

From  the  sociological  point  of  view,  we  see  the  need  of  a 
flexible  course  of  study.  The  enrolment  of  the  schools  is  made 
up  of  various  sociological  units,  which  with  their  varying  home 
conditions,  must  be  carefully  scrutinized  before  a  fixed  course 
of  study  is  laid  down  for  all.  In  the  case  of  the  negro,  it  seems 
that  the  curriculum  at  present  is  entirely  unfitted  to  his  capabil- 
ities. Apparently,  the  solution  of  this  problem  is  to  be  found 
only  in  organizing  colored  schools  with  a  special  curriculum. 

Supervision,  we  have  seen,  may  reduce  the  retardation  to  a 
small  extent  by  making  wholesale  promotions.  This,  however,  is 
an  attempt  to  remove  the  effect  without  eradicating  the  cause. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  recognizing  the  psychological  and  sociologi- 
cal factors  in  the  problem  and  making  adequate  provision  for  them, 
supervision  may  reduce  the  amount  of  retardation  to  a  minimum. 


DEC  80  • 

APR  19  192- 

MAR    15  1936 


MAR  4    19B3 


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